Hiya! My name is Alexandra Walker-Jones.
You know, people aren’t half kidding when they say it’s ridiculously difficult to write about oneself! Where to begin? What to include? How to be first and foremost authentic when my job is usually to be creative?
“I am irritated by my own writing. I am like a violinist whose ear is true, but whose fingers refuse to reproduce precisely the sound he hears within.” — Gustave Flaubert
And then comes the deeper stuff, like who I am? What do I value most in life? How did I get here? And what even is…
Although not technically classified as an essential nutrient, fibre is a key component of our diets that plays a vital role in a wide range of different physiological mechanisms such as the prevention of cholesterol-related and metabolic disease, the regulation of appetite and weight, as well as the maintenance of a healthy digestive system (1).
Used as a term to describe the non-digestible part of plants and plant-foods, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more functional and health-facilitating structure than fibre — and this is exactly why getting enough of it on a daily basis can be so important!
Numerous…
Growing up, my parents’ bedside table always looked the same — at least in my mind, it always did.
My mother’s side, the left, had a pair of reading glasses, a small handmade jewelry dish made by my younger sister, and a stack of books.
My father’s side, the one on the right, characterized by the presence of a brass bodhisattva statue, a selection of coloured booktabs, and a stack of books.
Throughout the weeks, the individuals books featured in my parents’ respective stacks would swap places, until, eventually, they became replaced by new titles and the process would start…
I want to be real with you guys; I’ve been doing a lot of work on myself. I say this, mind you, as I sit in my living room on the comfiest part of the sofa, in my comfiest pair of sweatpants, eating my third vegan chocolate chip cookie of the morning.
And you know what?
It’s still true.
You see, London has been in lockdown (for the third time, that is) since the beginning of the year, and it’s left me with a great deal of free time to work on becoming a better version of myself.
I’m not…
As it stands currently, I have 29 draft articles on Medium, most of which exist only as mere headlines with (if I’m lucky) some decent notes or research studies included by my former, and notably more optimistic, self.
In all honestly, I have absolutely no idea if this number is excessive, impressive, low, or completely and utterly ridiculous in comparison to other writers on Medium. I mean, how many drafts do you guys have? Tell me, please. I would very much like to know.
What I can say for a fact, however, is that I have no plans whatsoever to…
When you spend as much time as I do poking around medical journals, healthcare articles, and all the latest research on nutrition, you come to understand that this so-called “science,” is just about anything but.
Now don’t get me wrong — I place an extremely high value on scientific study; In fact, I believe there are very few subjects as worthwhile of our time and thorough understanding as science.
The difficulty when it comes to science, however, is that the more you know, the more you really become aware of how much there is that you don’t know, and that…
More than just common forest fungi, mushrooms have been utilized both nutritionally and medicinally for centuries, with first usage dating as far back as 3000 BCE. In this article we will go through 5 mushrooms you should eat more and why.
Initially employed for use within ancient medicine for their anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, anti-cancer, and cardiovascular-protective qualities, mushrooms have a well-documented role in the maintenance and overall support of a healthy lifestyle (1).
Mushrooms are thought to be involved in highly complex processes that take place within the human body such as apoptosis (positive cell death), immune modulation, and inflammatory…
It’s not every day that I find myself inspired to write articles about pee, nor publish them publically to the internet.
Today, however, while writing The Importance Of The 80/20 Rule For Eating Alkaline Versus Acidic Foods, I happened to stumble upon a fascinating way (to me at least) to test the pH level of your body, that I felt nothing less than morally obligated to share.
So, consider this an easy (albeit strange), at-home experiment with the ability to provide you first-hand information concerning the foods you consume and the effect they are having on your body.
Yes, you…
The pH of the foods we eat is an important, yet oft-overlooked, aspect of leading a healthy lifestyle.
Why? Well because in order for you or I to be alive enough to be reading this article in the first place, our lungs and kidneys must work around the clock to sustain the pH of our blood somewhere between the precise numbers of 7.35 and 7.45 (1).
Then, depending on the types of foods that we’re eating day-to-day, our kidneys are then required to maintain an optimal pH level within the body by compensating (either more or less) to make up…
Yesterday I spent the better part of the afternoon poring over Matthew McConaughey’s new memoir, “Greenlights.”
This book made me laugh out loud, so much so that my housemate kept peering her head into the living room wondering to what extent my sanity still remained in tact.
Based directly on the journals McConaughey kept for over 35 year of his life (talk about impressive!!), the memoir itself not only makes for an entertaining read, but also completely transforms the insight provided in the book into a more personal and explicitly receivable experience.
I’m not trying to sell it to you…
Writer and published author with an international background in psychology, nutrition, and creative writing. I’m just here to learn ;) awalkerjones.com